Lawyer Network News

Wetaskiwin, AB Lawyer News

Lawyers ask to consider tragic childhood of teens who killed boy

The lawyers of three teenagers, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the death of Ethan Yellowbird, 5, said that their clients’ tragic childhood should be taken into account in their sentencing.

The three convicts aged 13, 16 and 17, had come from homes wherein fighting and taking drugs were not uncommon. Their families neglected them and before they decided to join gangs, they have been in and out of foster care.

Trent Wilson, Crown prosecutor, said that not all those who have had a troubled background grew up to become criminals.

He added that they may have had a sad childhood but this was not an excuse for their rash act which ended Yellowbird’s life.

They have been hanging out one night in July 2011 when they decided to shoot up a house where Yellowbird was napping.

The Crown asked that they all serve the maximum youth sentence for manslaughter—two years in custody followed by one year of supervision.

Edmonton criminal lawyer Laura Stevens, defending for the oldest teen, said it was her client's idea to target the home where Ethan lived but the shot that he fired did not hit the house. Still, he takes responsibility for his actions that night.

Wetaskiwin lawyer Glen Allen, defending for the youngest teen, said his client's age and poor upbringing made him an ideal candidate for gang recruitment.

Alberta Lawyer News

Woman jailed for fraud amounting to about half a million dollars

Holly Jean Cardinal was meted with a three-year prison term following her guilty plea of having stolen $260,000 from a veterinary clinic wherein she was working as an administrator.

However, the Guardian Veterinary Centre was not the only employer that the 54-year-old Cardinal stole from because while she was working there, she was also undergoing trial for having embezzled $296,000 from her previous employer, the Allen Services and Contracting Ltd, where she had been working as a bookkeeper for a long time.

The judge found it aggravating that Cardinal continued to commit fraud with her new employer while she was undergoing trial for the same crime she committed from her previous employer.

In fact, she had pleaded guilty to those charges on the day she was asked by the vet clinic to leave under the suspicion that she was stealing from them.

The vet office, however, could not nail her for embezzlement for lack of evidence.

Cardinal confessed to stealing from the vet clinic while she was serving her sentence for her first fraud conviction.

Walter Raponi, a criminal lawyer in Edmonton, said that Cardinal resorted to stealing from her employers after she turned to gambling following a relationship that became abusive.

Calgary immigration lawyer asks CBSA to be humane to client

Posted Jan 26, 2016 on www.cbc.ca

Bjorn Harsanyi, an immigration lawyer in Calgary, is asking the Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) to help his client, Aida Castilla Romero, to return to her native country of Mexico by land.

Romero's work permit has expired and although she is willing to go home, she is afraid to get on a plane because she fears her lungs might collapse due to a rare disease that she has been diagnosed with.

Because of her health condition, Romero's lungs had collapsed a year after she came to Canada to work. While getting treatment, the terms of Romero's work permit ended. She was refused an extension and was denied a refugee status and eventually received a deportation order.

Cautioned by a doctor against flying as it would cause her lungs to collapse again; Romero through Harsanyi asked the CBSA to allow her to go back to Mexico by land. This, however, was denied too.

Harsanyi is appealing for the CBSA to help his client get a visa so she can travel to Mexico by land passing through the US as this is within the agency's capabilities.

There has been no word yet from the CBSA and Romero fears that she would be forced to board a plane when the deportation date arrives, least she would get arrested again which is what happened when her lawyer had informed the CBSA of her growing fears. They had deemed she would not get on her deportation flight.

Calgary immigration lawyer said it is not over for his client yet

Posted Jun 30, 2015 on www.cbc.ca

Legal options have not run out for Imam Abdi Hersy despite losing his refugee protection status, according to Raj Sharma, the immigration lawyer from Calgary.

Sharma said that Hersy will be appealing the decision handed down by the Immigration and Refugee Board at the Federal Court.

The board's decision is in relation to the sexual charges that Hersy is facing in Minnesota, USA, where he used to work as a respiratory therapist in 2006.

At that time, Hersy came to Canada and successfully got himself protection as a refugee of Somalia.

The Canadian Border Services Agency, however, accused Hersy of mispresentation and worked on stripping him of his refugee status in 2013.

The agency succeeded but Hersy appealed his case to the Federal Court which sided with him.

Sharma said Hersy hopes for a repeat of that compassion that the Federal Court had shown him then.

Hersy had maintained his innocence against the sexual allegations and that issues with his immigration had kept him from proving he is not guilty.

Man imprisoned for dangerous driving

Posted Jun 26, 2015 on www.edmontonsun.com

Brandon James Hudson was meted with a prison term of two years and seven months after admitting to dangerous driving causing bodily harm.

Hudson also pleaded guilty to hit and run, stealing a vehicle, not stopping at the scene of an accident, breaches and assault.

Four people were injured as a result of Hudson's antics.

The Edmonton resident, however, does not remember any detail of what he had done to have been slapped with the several charges as he had been too high on drugs at the time of the incident.

Lawyers of beating death suspect want him to stay in Calgary

The 19-year-old Rider has been accused of beating to death Christa Cachene last October and he is now facing second-degree murder charges.

Williamson told Judge Jim Ogle of the provincial court that having Rider in Edmonton is making it very hard to communicate with him especially for Calgary defence lawyer Balfour Der, who is acting as the lead counsel for his defence.

The lawyer added that they would have to meet with Rider several times which is why they need him to be in Calgary.

Judge Ogle said he will make the order, although he is hesitant about doing so and he wants to know first the impact of such move from remand officers.

Lawyer of Mac store killing suspects urges for case to proceed

Rauf is representing Laylin Delorme, who along with Colton Steinhauer, is facing serious criminal charges including first-degree murder.

The two are suspects in the killing of two clerks of a Mac store last month.

Rauf said that he wants the case expedited because his client has been in custody since December and that he finds the month-long delay unreasonable.

Delorme has been scheduled to next appear in court on January 29 which may result to the scheduling of his preliminary hearing.

Steinhauer, for his part, has been instructed to communicate with legal aid after he told the judge that his lawyer had cancelled him out.

A boy aged 13 years old has also been charged along with Delorme and Steinhauer.

Calgary lawyers worried for their clients' health

Posted Jun 30, 2015 on www.huffingtonpost.ca

Calgary lawyers Shamsher Kothari and Stephen Bitzer are asking for a sentence of between eight to 10 years for their clients who have been convicted for their involvement in a Ponzi scheme considered as one of the biggest in Canada.

Kothari fears that his client, Milowe Brost, 61, might die in jail due to his poor health should he be given a longer sentence.

Bitzer, for his part, said that even a 10-year sentence is too long for his 71-year-old client, Gary Sorenson.

The lawyer added that 10 years is akin to a life sentence for Sorenson at his age.

Brost and Sorenson were convicted last February of fraud and theft while Brost was also found liable of laundering money.

The sentencing judge is expected to make a decision later as the court has yet to review about 800 requests for restitution from victims.

National defence expresses desire to settle sex assault claims

Posted Mar 16, 2015 on www.vicnews.com

London litigator Phillip Millar and lawyers of the Justice Department are working together after the Department of National Defence said it wanted to settle the claims made by eight women who alleged they were sexually assaulted by the department's medical technician.

According to the victims, they were subjected to a breast examination wherein they were touched inappropriately by James Wilks.

Wilks had denied the claims of the women and that he had done the examinations according to the standard procedure.

In 2013, several women including four of the five who have filed a claim, brought their complaints against Wilks in a court martial wherein he was convicted for several counts of breach of trust and sexual assault. The military judge gave his nod to proof that the victims, all under 40, did not have to undergo the breast examination.

He was sentenced to two years and six months which he hasn't started serving yet because he has appealed the conviction.

It was not the first time that Wilks has been convicted by a court martial because in 2011, he was also handed a nine-month sentence after he was convicted of charges of the same nature.

Millar said his clients are happy that the National Defence wants to go for a settlement.